Legendary actor Rutger Hauer has died at his home in the Netherlands at the age of 75 following a short illness. The celebrated Dutch actor was a leading man in the 1970s, launched to success with Paul Verhoeven’s series “Floris” and the explicit drama “Turkish Delight”. He then went to Hollywood and became the memorable villain of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” along with notable 1980s films like “Ladyhawke,” “Nighthawks,” “The Hitcher,” “Flesh & Blood,” and “The Osterman Weekend”. Other notable performances include “Sin City,” “Batman Begins,” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” “Dracula 3D,” “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” “The Legend of the Holy Drinker,” “Nostradamus,” “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” “Hobo with a Shotgun,” HBO’s “True Blood,” the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” movie, and the mini-series “Merlin” and “Salem’s Lot”. Hauer was also active in social causes as an outspoken sponsor of the environmental organization Greenpeace and the founder the Starfish Association, a non-profit devoted to AIDS awareness. Hauer’s agent confirmed the news with Hauer’s funeral being held today. Source: Variety http://www.darkhorizons.com/r-i-p-rutger-hauer/
Ladyhawke is a movie I haven't thought about in years, watched it a bunch as a kid. The Hitcher was solid too.
He probably deserved to be in better movies with better roles. He had solid roles in solid movies early in his career. I'm not sure what happened. I guess those good villain roles dried up on him as he aged. But, yea, he was in some of my favorite films back in the day including "Ladyhawke", "Blade Runner", "The Hitcher", and "Nighthawks". I seem to recall he was in some movie where his character was blind with a walking stick beating up bad guys or something. I guess he was in "True Blood" but don't specifically recall the role. Regardless of the material, I considered him a good actor and am thankful for his work. He got to work with some other actors that seemed to go on to more successful careers. It seems unfortunate that he didn't also get that level of success after being in some notable films. But, he definitely made his mark on the industry. RIP
I recall being in London in 93 and seeing his Guiness commercials. And lo and behold, youtube had them.
Here he was mainly known for "Floris" and "Turks Fruit". A Dutch series and Dutch movie. He was born in the same small town as me.
Watched him so much as a kid late night on HBO. Blind Fury, The Blood of Heroes, Splitter, Wedlock, etc...it was a constant stream of Rutger movies. Thanks for the entertainment.
Without a doubt, he deserved more roles in more films, and in other genres, that were the equal to his role as Roy Batty. In Blade Runner, Rutger had a tremendous physical presence, an aura of suppressed violence that threatened to explode at any moment. His character in the film called for it and he could have stayed within that as an actor. He could have produced a Roy Batty that served Ridley Scott’s vision, but Hauer went beyond what Ridley asked for. He made the phrase, “More human than human,” a reality, turning Batty into a complex, multi-layered personality, and not simply a superbly programmed replicant. His famous “Tears in Rain” scene was improvised by Rutger to a large extent. He took a crucial element of the film’s ending and made it his own. Harrison Ford, and Ridley Scott, had the good sense to react and not intrude on the scene, letting Hauer work his magic. Just as it is impossible, in my opinion, to imagine any other actor playing Rick Deckard in the original directed by Ridley Scott, it is equally impossible to imagine anyone else playing Roy Batty, the brilliant leader of the small band of rebel replicants. Rutger’s character grabbed you, as Ford’s did, from the first moment he was on screen. Scott’s vision of the future was unparalleled, yet it was Ford and Hauer, with the superb soundtrack by Vangelis, who made it sing.
